Dutch game dev distances himself from Kojima after wild internet speculation

Posted on June 23, 2021

In a bizarre string of events, an indie developer by the name of Hasan Kahraman has had to release a video, visually exhausted, as he attempts to once again distance himself from rumours that he is a paid actor and that his video game company, Blue Box, is actually a front for a new Hideo Kojima Silent Hill production.

This absolute rollercoaster of a story started back in April when Sony unveiled an upcoming PlayStation 5 exclusive by the name of Abandoned. The blog listed the game as a “cinematic survival sim” that was set to release in the final quarter of 2021. The announcement contained a rather candid introduction from Hasan and his small Dutch indie studio, a teaser trailer promising a gameplay reveal soon, and some details including the fact that the game will contain “high quality motion capture, all running at 60 FPS and rendered at a native 4K resolution.”

It was at this point the internet flagged some similarities and oddities and began an investigation that still continues to this day. The theory that Abandoned was actually the codename for a new Hideo Kojima release became prevalent as sleuths uncovered links between the two projects. Firstly, it was difficult to imagine that a small Dutch indie studio with no notable successes was able to create a 4K, 60FPS game featuring “realistic graphics”. The partnership here with Sony is also a very good get for such an unknown entity, but obviously that kind of arrangement isn’t completely unheard of. What is less common is a dedicated PS5 app that’s set to play trailers for Abandoned in real time. Seems like there’s a lot of support and a big push for what’s currently a completely unknown release from some tiny game studio.

What was really staggering about Blue Box and Hasan Kahraman was a set of coincidences that really did seem to align the developer with Kojima. Firstly, their names share the same initials. Secondly, Hideo translated from Japanese to Turkish is ‘Kahraman’, the surname of Blue Box’s head. The studio also wrote in a now-deleted Tweet that Abandoned was the code name for their game which actually started with an S and ended with an L. Geoff Keighley, a known video game entity with a close connection to Kojima, is also reportedly involved with the reveal of Abandoned.

Hideo Kojima is known for his pranks and tricks. In 2012 a trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain featured a mysterious logo for a non-existent company Kojima invented. He also invented the company’s chief executive officer, Joakim Mogren, who was played by a paid actor. Joakim turned out to be an anagram for Kojima, so this kind of wordplay is not foreign to the eclectic and beloved game developer.

Returning back to Blue Box and Hasan, it does really seem like a set of coincidences and some lighthearted playing into the joke has left this tiny game developer with a whole bunch of attention they never expected. At this point, it doesn’t seem to matter how much Hasan attempts to debunk the rumours and speculations, once that train has left the platform it’s hard to slow it down.

We’re expecting to see more from Abandoned within the next month, with Hasan planning to hold a live-stream video soon to further debunk rumours and show the faces of his team.